Fred Engelen

Fred Engelen (1912-1967). Actor, director, academic.

Biography

Born in Antwerp on 20 December 1912, he studied at the Koninklijke Konservatorium in Antwerp where he received the Diploma in Theatre Art cum laude in 1937. He became involved with the municipal theatre in Antwerp, and in 1955 was in charge of the studio for young actors at the Royal Flemish Theatre in Antwerp.

He was married to Belgian actress and costumier Tine Balder, and the couple had three children, Jan, Bie and Katrijn.

In 1967 he went on sabbatical leave to the USA and Europe. and unexpectedly had to undergo emergency surgery for appendicitis during his visit to Stuttgart. Sadly, he died there from post operative complications on 3 December 1967.

Work in Belgium

Besides teaching, acting and directing for the various theatres, he did work for radio and film.

Some of the Belgian films listed include A Nice Case (1941), Le banquet des fraudeurs (1952[1]), De rozen van Henry Tayer (1959 [2]), Sterfgeval in de familie (1960) and Goeie morgen, Bill (1961).

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

The first period

In 1955 Engelen was offered work in South Africa as a guest director for the University of Cape Town Drama Department, where he directed Georges Bernanos's Dialogues des Carmélites with the students (in Donald Inskip's translation, entitled The Chosen of God).

During the period 1955-1p61 he also worked for National Theatre Organisation (NTO) and other companies, inter alia directing Max Frisch's Andorra (195*), Shakespeare's Die Koopman van Venesië (1955) and Kafka's The Trial (1960).

Administrator and teacher (1961-1967)

In 1961 he was approached to become the first head of the newly established drama department the University of Stellenbosch, a position he held till his unexpected death in 1967, while on a sabbatical leave in the USA and Europe.In 1961 Engelen was invited back to South Africa to become the first professor and head of the Drama Department at the University of Stellenbosch. He held this position until his unexpected death in 1967.

While they lived in Stellenbosch Tine worked as a freelance actress, as well as serving as a lecturer and costumier for the same department.

In this period Engelen imported some influental staff members from Belgium (e.g. Jo Gevers, Benoni Dehaeck and Jos Willemse) and set about establishing the Department as a cultural force in South Africa. Another important contribution was the construction of the well-appointed H.B. Thom Theatre in Stellenbosch, a project he had initiated and overseen to its opening in 1966.

Plays produced, directed and performed in

Over the course of his period at Stellenbosch, Engelen was involved in numerous productions put on with the students

Among the plays he produced and acted in for the Department have been Caesar(1965), Macbeth (1967).

While teaching at Stellenbosch University, he continued to direct plays done by NTO, the newly established Performing Arts Councils and various amateur and professional companies. Among these were: Besoek van die Ou Dame (NTO, 1962); Don Carlos (PACOFS, 1966).

Translations and adaptations

He was apparently slated to direct Putzonderwater, his own Flemish adaptation of Bartho Smit's Afrikaans play Putsonderwater, for Belgian television during his sabbatical. He was meant to arrive in Belgium on 3 December 1967, but his death on 3 December 1967 caused the project to be cancelled at this time.

He also translated and adapted a number of plays while in South Africa, including Once More (a medieval farce),

[FdV, TH]

Sources

Obituary in Die Burger, 5 December 1967.

Donald Inskip 1972. Forty Little Years: The Story of a Theatre. Cape Town: Howard Timmins.

Percy Tucker 1997. Just the Ticket. My 50 Years in Show Business. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.

E-mail correspondence from Bie Engelen (15 March, 2021)

E-mail correspondence from Pieter Fourie (12 February, 2021)

E-mail correspondence from Franz Marx (13 February, 2021)

Typed copy of the translation of Once More, found in the archives of the Drama Department of Stellenbosch University.

A handwritten text of a TV script headed "Putzonderwater, naar het toneelstuk van Bartho Smit voor de televisie bewerkt door Fred Engelen", found among the possessions of Tine Balder by their daughter Bie Engelen, in April 2021. (Consulted courtesy of Bie Engelen.)

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